The research conducted at Plant Cell Biology employs multidisciplinary approaches, including genetics, biochemistry, and live-cell super-resolution microscopy, to unravel fundamental aspects of cell surface signaling in plants. 

The primary research focuses of the working group is on understanding the molecular basis of the functional plasticity of the plant plasma membrane and investigating the mechanisms underlying the organization and dynamics of plasma membrane lipids and proteins within diverse membrane nanodomains. 

The working group aims to define how nanoscale plasma membrane dynamics and organization are modulated as part of the plant developmental program and during plant-microbe interactions. 

Further, the working group seeks to dissect how nanoscale regulation of plasma membrane-associated events supports plant development and immunity. Finally, the working group endeavors to trace and dissect how these mechanisms have (co-)evolved in plants.

Selected publications

Jolivet, M.-D., Neubergerová, M., Gabani, V., Álvarez-Mena, A., Grelard, A., Sprakel, J., Habenstein, B., Ongena, M., Deleu, M., Pleskot, R., and Gronnier, J. (2026). A bacterial lipid triggers membrane mechanosensing immunity in Arabidopsis. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.23.720373 

Jolivet, M.-D., Wei, H., Gantner, I., Klingl, A., Gutjahr, C., and Gronnier, J. (2026). The diverse roles of host membranes in plant–microbe interactions. PLoS Pathogens 22, e1013921. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013921 

von Arx, M., Jolivet, M.-D., Biermann, D., Gabani, V., Andrews, S.S., Zipfel, C., and Gronnier, J. (2026). Plasma membrane nanoscale dynamics of Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase complexes. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.05.709869

Gilliard, G., Pršić, J., Crowet, J.-M., Chemotti, C., Ahmed, J., Lorent, J., Jolivet, M.-D., Egli, S., Egée, S., Bouyer, G., Race, G., Van Buren, L., Van Den Berghe, A., Argüelles-Arias, A., Mathelié-Guinlet, M., Ibrahim, H., […] Höfte, M., Zipfel, C., Dufrêne, Y.F., Tyteca, D., Koutsioubas, A., Brocca, P., Grossman, G., Ranf, S., Dorey, S., De Coninck, B., Nürnberger, T., Mongrand, S., Gronnier, J., Rondelli, V., Deleu, M., and Ongena, M. (2026). Membrane remodelling mediates lipopeptide-induced immunity in Arabidopsis. Nature Plants 12, 1034–1050, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02270-3

Xhelilaj, K., Von Arx, M., Biermann, D., Parvanov, A., Faiss, N., Monte, I., Klingelhuber, F., Zipfel, C., Timmermans, M., Oecking, C., and Gronnier, J. (2025). An ancient alkalinization factor informs Arabidopsis root development. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.22.695669

Biermann, D., Von Arx, M., Munzert-Eberlein, K.S., Xhelilaj, K., Séré, D., Stegmann, M., Vert, G., Wolf, S., Engelsdorf, T., Zipfel, C., and Gronnier, J. (2025). A RALF-brassinosteroid signaling circuit regulates Arabidopsis hypocotyl cell shape. Current Biology 35, 5002-5017.e5005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.09.016

Jaillais, Y., Bayer, E., Bergmann, D.C., Botella, M.A., Boutté, Y., Bozkurt, T.O., Caillaud, M.C., Germain, V., Grossmann, G., Heilmann, I., Hemsley, P.A., Kirchhelle, C., Martinière, A., Miao, Y., Mongrand, S., Müller, S., Noack, L.C., Oda, Y., Ott, T., Pan, X., Pleskot, R., Potocky, M., Robert, S., Rodriguez, C.S., Simon-Plas, F., Russinova, E., Van Damme, D., Van Norman, J.M., Weijers, D., Yalovsky, S., Yang, Z., Zelazny, E., and Gronnier, J. (2024). Guidelines for naming and studying plasma membrane domains in plants. Nature Plants 2024 10:8 10, 1172-1183. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01742-8 

von Arx, M., Xhelilaj, K., Schulz, P., Oven-Krockhaus, S.z., and Gronnier, J. (2024). Photochromic reversion enables long-term tracking of single molecules in living plants. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.10.585335

Hurst, C.H., Turnbull, D., Xhelilaj, K., Myles, S., Pflughaupt, R.L., Kopischke, M., Davies, P., Jones, S., Robatzek, S., Zipfel, C., Gronnier, J., and Hemsley, P.A. (2023). S-acylation stabilizes ligand-induced receptor kinase complex formation during plant pattern-triggered immune signaling. Current Biology 33, 1588-1596.e1586.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.065 

Gronnier, J., Franck, C.M., Stegmann, M., Defalco, T.A., Abarca, A., Von Arx, M., Dünser, K., Lin, W., Yang, Z., Kleine-Vehn, J., Ringli, C., and Zipfel, C. (2022). Regulation of immune receptor kinase plasma membrane nanoscale organization by a plant peptide hormone and its receptors. eLife 11:e74162 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.74162

Lab Members

Prof. Dr. Julien Gronnier

+49 8161 71 2699/ julien.gronnier@tum.de

Ms. Sonja Denk | Team assistant 

+49 8161 71 5426/ sonja.denk@tum.de

Ms. Vaishali Gabani | Research Assistant

Dr. Marie-Dominique Jolivet | Postdoctoral research

Ms. Michelle von Arx | Doctoral candidate

Ms. Kaltra Xhelilaj | Doctoral candidate

Mr. David Biermann | Doctoral candidate

Ms. Liyang Gao | Doctoral candidate

Ms. Mariya Roussinova | Student helper